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She's flying over the coast of Shanghai when she sees her.
Lei Ling doesn't think she can ever get tired of seeing her.
Pearl crests from the water like her caped-identity namesake. Her golden visor glints in the light and it's, sometimes, all Lei Ling can see from way up high. Long, black hair flows out behind her and Lei Ling is struck by a certain awe she can never place.
And then the sea monster screams so Lei Ling has to go back to being a superhero.
"What brings you out here, Wave?" Lei Ling calls out as she swoops down and hardens the air into a sword. She brings it down on the scales of the sea monster.
Pearl jumps, the water following her like moths drawn to a flame. It comes crashing down over the sea monster's head. "Seemed like you needed help!"
"Thanks for the sentiment, but I'm doing fine!"
They banter, drawing the sea monster away from the coast and to deeper water. Safer from the citizens of the city, and safer for the citizens as well. The monster doesn't mean harm, it just got lost and almost beached on the shore. With the help of Pearl, the task is easier.
"No, but seriously. We're outside the Philippine Sea," Lei Ling huffs out after they make sure the monster slinks away back to the depths. She's low enough that she can feel the spray of the waves on her calves. "What brings you to China?"
Pearl grins, sheathing her twin blades. "I just wanted to see you. Lucky accident I caught you subduing a sea creature."
And Lei Ling must be blushing, because she swears the sun started beating on them harder. She fumbles something about being glad to see Pearl and mainly just tackles her into a hug.
Pearl swings backwards, but the water propelling her up holds the both of them. Lei Ling doesn't care if she gets wet, Pearl is solid and bursting with life, and Lei Ling doesn't care about anything other than Pearl.
"You came all this way?"
"Hey, what's the point of powers if we don't take advantage of them from time to time?"
"I guess you're right." Pearl's wet skin is quickly warming up. Lei Ling smiles at her, and uses the winds to catapult them higher.
The waves can't reach them. Pearl's control quickly dissipates when she's surprised, and Lei Ling throws her up like a pancake. There's a surprised shriek, one Lei Ling falls over in the air laughing at.
"Aero!" Pearl shouts, bobbing on the winds like a bottle lost at sea. "Not cool."
Lei Ling approaches her easily, cutting through the winds and steadying her so that they float gently. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."
Pearl grumbles in reply, but she's smiling. Her strong arms wrap around Lei Ling and Lei Ling gently lowers them to the ocean.
"Take me to your place," Pearl demands, eyes twinkling. Lei Ling raises a brow. "Hey, you're the one with the state of the art TV."
"You have a TV too."
"Not a state of the art one, Lei Ling." The end of her sentence takes on a whine that stretches out the syllables of Lei Ling's name. Something lurches in Lei Ling's stomach; she condenses it into a smile so bright her cheeks hurt.
"Okay, okay. I should've never gotten you hooked on those Chinese dramas."
"But they're so good!"
Lei Ling hums and looks over the skyline of her city. "I do have to clock out of work first, though."
"It's a weekend." Her tone turns disapproving at the drop of a hat. "Don't tell me you were in your office during the weekend."
"Pearl–"
"Lei Ling."
"Well, you don't want me to tell you I was."
"Goodness, you idiot. Have you ever heard of a lazy weekend?"
"Heard of, maybe. Experienced, though? I can't say I have." She's joking, of course. Maybe. Actually, Lei Ling quite can't be sure.
"We need to change that," Pearl announces. "Clock out of work immediately, we have to binge the new season of that American TV show sweeping the charts! C'mon, Lei Ling, we don't have a second to lose!"
Lei Ling laughs and gives in. It's always easy to give in with Pearl. She dutifully drops Pearl off at her sky-rise apartment — one would be surprised at how easy it is to inconspicuously do so — and heads to her design firm with a goal in mind.
Until she gets caught up in the new brief she's been tasked, and the minutes flood into hours, and Pearl's blowing up her phone. Lei Ling curses.
She feels bad for accidentally blowing Pearl off, feels worse than bad, but she's hit her stride and Lei Ling doesn't want to stop. The sketch is looking ready to be rendered and Lei Ling just needs to run a few more calculations to make sure it'll be physically feasible. A few more hours, can't hurt. Right?
She texts Pearl what she's thinking and Pearl just responds with one message.
Well, if you're sure… but I still think you should come home.
Pearl ends up being right, of course. Lei Ling is impossibly sore when she comes home, regretting the fact that the whole day slipped by without spending more time with Pearl. She is stopped in her tracks, however, when she sees Pearl sleeping on her couch. Her guest has changed into some of Lei Ling's old college sweats, a towel fanning out under her hair. It's an endearing sight; Lei Ling doesn't want to wake her.
She tries to move as quietly as possible, even muffle everything with her control over the wind. Pearl stirs anyways.
"Lei Ling?" Pearl immediately sits up.
"Hey." Lei Ling guiltily waves. "I'm about to make myself dinner. Sorry for waking you."
"You didn't eat?"
"... No?"
Pearl rolls her eyes and follows Lei Ling to the kitchen. She opens the cupboard of snacks Lei Ling keeps and tears a package of crackers.
Lei Ling frowns. "Don't eat on my accord. Late night snacks are bad for your health."
Pearl hums non committedly and throws a cracker into her mouth. "Should've listened to me then."
Lei Ling really should've.
Pearl loves Lei Ling, she really does. At one point they accepted that both parties liked each other, that none of them could do anything about it, and proceeded to pretty much coexist. But just because Pearl loves Lei Ling so very much doesn't mean Lei Ling being annoyingly right about everything can't get on her nerves.
Most times it's cute.
Okay, a lot of the times it's cute.
Her lolo is making sinigang tonight and Lei Ling is tagging along. Pearl grins at her, fixing a lock of stray hair from Lei Ling's glasses in the progress. There's an adorable pout on her lips, one Pearl would lightly kiss away if they weren't in the presence of, well, her entire nosy neighborhood .
"What's that smile for?"
"You're adorable," Pearl tells her honestly.
The tips of Lei Ling's ears turn red. She can barely keep the flush out of her voice. "Noted."
In front of the cement wall that's serving as their bench, the road has children playing. Pearl remembers being one of them. It's an idyllic look into Pearl's daily life, one Lei Ling seems to enjoy immensely. She's relaxed, leaning into Pearl's shoulder, in a way Pearl so rarely sees when she's in Shanghai working to the bone.
That's why Pearl's so glad she's here. It washes her body in warm affection when she realizes that her place with lolo has the ability to be somewhere homey where Lei Ling can relax. It's the same feeling she gets when she's realized her definition of home has expanded farther than she'd ever thought it could. She has the Agents of Atlas to thank for that.
"Pearl!" Isko runs up to them. He's beaming at Lei Ling. "Your friend is pretty."
Lei Ling has no clue what they're saying, she doesnt know Cebuano. Pearl laughs and translates.
"Tell them I said thank you."
"She is very pretty," Pearl tells them instead.
They've caught the interest of the other girls and boys. A girl approaches them, her name is April, and she slyly asks, "is she your girlfriend?"
Pearl flushes and looks down at the ground. It's answer enough for the kids to start jumping around and make fun of them — Pearl in particular.
Lei Ling blinks, surely putting the pieces together. She checks with Pearl, just in case she doesn't make the connection that they're making fun of them. "What are they saying?"
"They're singing a couples song, for us."
Her blush matches Pearl's now. "Oh."
"Now now," Isko's older brother Mando calls from behind them. "Leave the girls alone, especially you, Isko."
Pearl nods gratefully to him. He smirks, just a troublemaker as his brother. "You can terrorize them later."
Isko pumps his fist and chases after another boy in an impromptu game of tag, the two of them already forgotten. Mando goes around the wall and stands next to Pearl. "The titos and I are fixing tita Rita's old pavilion. Wanna join?"
"It's about time she lets us fix it."
"That's what I was thinking," Mando shrugs, "stubborn lady."
Lei Ling taps Pearl on the shoulder inquiringly. Mando sees her and switches to English. "I was just asking for her help in fixing up a pavilion."
"Oh," Lei Ling nods. "Should I help?"
"No need," Pearl pats her thigh. "I'll be right back."
They go to the site of the pavilion, Lei Ling tagging along. When she sees the pillars of wood being transported by the titos, she grabs onto Pearl's hand.
"Are you sure you guys don't need help?"
"We'll be fine."
"Those pieces of wood look pretty heavy."
"I'm very strong."
"Last time I checked, you don't have superstrength."
"I work out."
Lei Ling snorts; she lets go of her hand. "Okay."
Mando opens his mouth and Pearl shoots him a look. He closes it. Pearl would love to have Lei Ling here, but the titos can be embarrassing. The amount of stories they have of Pearl's antics when she was young is… humbling. She squeezes Lei Ling's shoulder and joins Mando to help the titos.
"You sure you want to not listen to your girl?" Mando asks in Cebuano. "Sounds like a surefire way to get in the doghouse."
"Oh shush. You know the stories they're going to tell about us to her."
"A good point taken." Mando whistles. "There's some spectacularly bad ones in there. Still, you didn't have to help if you wanted to spend more time with her."
"No, I've been waiting to fix that pavilion for a while now. It's practically a safety hazard."
The titos welcome them and they get to work.
Pearl ends up getting a nasty scratch on her wrist from a stray nail. Lei Ling tuts as she cleans it. They're alone in Pearl's room, Lei Ling's kneeling on her bed as Pearl sits on the side. Her movements are gentle even when the alcohol stings.
"Superhealing wasn't part of the deal?" Lei Ling softly teases.
"Unfortunately that one slipped over me. Like how superstrength did."
Soft eyes harden slightly. "I told you so."
She did. Pearl could've sacrificed her dignity and let the wind-controlling superhero help. Oh well. Pearl nods in acquisition. Lei Ling starts wrapping the wound.
Once she's done, she presses her lips to Pearl's cheek. "Love you."
And, yeah, that's pretty great. Pearl doesn't mind the minor injuries if it's Lei Ling she returns home to. She pulls Lei Ling to her chest with her good hand.
"Love you too."
Lei Ling's mother used to tell the boys in their apartment complex that one got good luck in their sleep if they listened to their wives. It was a funny saying, one with no real meaning behind it other than to ensure that they would be agreeable to their significant others. Lei Ling took it with a grain of salt until her father agreed.
"It's true," he had said cheerily, winking at Lei Ling. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "your mom has saved me more than a hundred times."
Young Lei Ling had laughed, agreed, and forgotten about the memory. Her father was a sincere man, rarely saying words he didn't mean. If her mother had saved him more than a hundred times, Lei Ling believed him. Just like how she was starting to believe her mother now.
Because, truly, what else could explain the horrendous amount of bad luck Lei Ling has been getting?
It has happened enough that Lei Ling is starting to get superstitious, and she isn't usually a superstitious person. She has to smile at the passing thought: Pearl is the more superstitious one of them. But the times when she doesn't listen to Pearl seems to be the times when Lei Ling truly hits rock bottom.
And Lei Ling didn't want to put herself as the "boys" in her mother's old saying, or Pearl in the "wives" position — but… a flutter goes through her stomach at the thought. It is a wishful premonition, not even that. What Lei Ling means is that she probably needs to start listening to Pearl more.
Like the other day, for example: Pearl said to take a break at lunch, because she wouldn't get one later. Lei Ling refused and a monster attacked Shanghai later in the day, so Lei Ling really didn't get a break at all. Or the other time Lei Ling didn't heed Pearl's warning of wearing a cardigan and getting coffee all over her expensive designer blouse. Those were just a few of multiple cases. It is ridiculous how many times similar scenarios have occurred.
This is getting nowhere. Lei Ling knows what she meant, so why does she feel the need to over-explain it to herself? Pearl isn't her wife, she's just the wife placeholder of the saying.
In her sketchbook, Lei Ling furiously scribbles out a doodle of a building and moves her pen down to an open space.
Okay, so Lei Ling has figured out the root of the problem. So all she has to do is to start listening to Pearl more. But that's—... easier said than done.
Because the thing is, Lei Ling can admit that she's a prideful person. She didn't get to where she is now laying down and allowing herself to get run over. There were multiple instances where she could have stood down and taken what the old rich men stuck in their ways gave her without complaint. But Lei Ling resisted. She resisted until they gave her a chance, then stole it from under them and knocked their empires to the ground. Given an inch, she took a mile.
What she can't do, apparently, is actually lay down this stupid pride of hers when it actually matters.
Lei Ling sighs and flips the page of her sketchbook. Her phone taunts her.
Pearl's visiting her apartment again. This time Lei Ling is intent on going home right after her shift ends. She knows that there is a fifty-percent chance of Pearl using her building's pool right now, but she has to call her. Lei Ling wants to hear her voice so bad even when they literally just talked to each other this morning.
Without a second thought, she calls.
"Hello?"
"You're right," Lei Ling says quickly.
"Lei Ling? Right about what."
She falters. "Uhm– right about, well, everything."
Pearl's voice turns smug. Lei Ling can imagine her face now. "I usually am."
"You are."
"Are you coming home soon?"
"Yeah," Lei Ling looks out the window, "yeah I am."
Because it's Pearl who likes every part of her, even the not-so-great parts. And the more Lei Ling learns about Pearl, the more she likes every part of her too. It's useless to complain and be stubborn when, in the end, Pearl is the right one for her. Even when it's late to say and takes sacrificing her pride, Lei Ling would much rather admit Pearl's right when she is.
Lei Ling can learn from Pearl, how easily she admits when she's in the wrong. There's nothing to be ashamed of when it's Pearl she's admitting it to. No penalty, no foul, when it's the person that really, truly, knows her.
She can't wait to get home.
Swimming isn't enough anymore. It hasn't been since she could control the waves. Sometimes, Pearl wishes she could turn off her powers, just to swim like a normal person again. She misses threading through the water, tiring herself out until she could go home.
It's gotten easier thanks to her learning how to control her powers. She can just swim like a normal person now, even when it's second nature to propel herself faster. But swimming like a normal person takes effort now when it never did before, especially in the community pools.
She ponders this new development with her relationship with the water as she opens up a package of corn chips. The sun has set and Pearl left the warmth of their bed to have a snack. Lei Ling was sleeping, last time she checked.
Still, it doesn't take long till Lei Ling pads out of their room and finds Pearl.
"You're eating another late night snack," she notes. Her hoodie drowns her lean frame and her glasses are haphazardly tipping off her nose. She towers over Pearl, but she looks so soft and cuddly that she can't be anything more than a friendly giant.
Pearl smiles, because how can she not? She was waiting for Lei Ling to appear. "I know, I know. You don't like me eating late night snacks for my health."
Lei Ling's shoulders slacken. She gives a weary smile in return, one tinged with amusement. "You have the whole speel memorized by now, don't you?"
"What can I say? You make a good point."
Pearl pats the ground next to her. Lei Ling settles down, resting her head on Pearl's shoulder. The familiar weight is comforting.
"I often do."
"But, you know…" Pearl hesitates; she doesn't know how exactly to phrase what she wants to say.
She wants to say that it was the midnight talks she enjoyed, but she's afraid she might be too prideful to admit that. When Lei Ling isn't around, Pearl barely snacks late at night. What she likes doing is keeping Lei Ling company during the late nights, and snacks are a convenient and delicious excuse. She doesn't want to say it because it sounds tacky and lame, like some love-sick fool that spends too much time thinking about Lei Ling. Pearl may be a love-sick fool, but she doesn't have to announce it.
But they've been sort-of-fighting for so long and all Pearl really wants is Lei Ling's company — that's what she always ever wants — so she thinks she can put down her pride for tonight.
"What I really liked about these late night snacks was eating them with you," she admits shyly.
Lei Ling stills for too long, enough to make Pearl nervous. Pearl risks a sideways glance to witness Lei Ling's face turning red all the way to the tips of her ears. Upon Pearl looking, Lei Ling buries her face into Pearl's shoulder, hair falling down to cover what's visible of her face.
It's cute. Lei Ling is always cute to Pearl. She chuckles and lifts a hand to pat the back of Lei Ling's head. She wasn't expecting that reaction; she thought it would be Lei Ling calling her a sap, not the other way around. A lovesick fool.
It's okay, they can be lovesick fools together.
"Oh."
"Yeah." Pearl offers Lei Ling a chip, which she takes with her mouth. She lets Lei Ling munch on it, relishing in their closeness.
Lei Ling is quiet for a moment, save for her chewing on the offered chips, obviously deep in thought. Pearl is patient about it, she knows how hard it can be to string words together. Maybe it's time they accept that they haven't been listening as well as they should've these past few weeks.
"I'm sorry," Lei Ling says softly.
"For the record, me too."
"I haven't been listening to my mother's proverb, lately." She tells her.
Pearl tilts her head. "What proverb?"
"That men should listen to their wives to get good luck in their sleep."
A laugh escapes Pearl. Whatever proverb she was expdcting, she wasn't expecting one about wives and love. "Are you calling me your wife?"
Lei Ling looks at her intently, enough so that Pearl is the one that ends up blushing. "Well, she was right. I should listen to you more."
"Yeah?"
"I don't like disappointing you," Lei Ling is open and honest in a way Pearl hasn't seen her be before. "If I'm the one making you sad, I'd rather be an ant."
Pearl softens. "You never make me sad."
Lei Ling snuggles up against her on the tiled floor. The position is deceptively cozy. "I do sometimes, and I hate it."
And, well, Pearl can't lie when she says her heart doesn't burst at that. She knows Lei Ling probably has heard the thumping of her heart by now, that she's blushing and wishing she could capture this moment forever. As if on cue, Lei Ling taps a finger along to it, as if Pearl's heartbeat is the beat of a song.
"Maybe we can both start listening more."
"Maybe."
They split the bag of chips between them. Pearl has never thought that her definition of home would leave Mactan Island in Cebu, even leave the Phillipine Sea. But, between her and Lei Ling, Pearl thinks anywhere can be home if Lei Ling's by her side.